How Fast to Cures? POLITICO Pro panel discussion recap

Research!America

October 6, 2015

Could a 21st Century Cures bill that modernizes the research ecosystem cross the finish line in Congress in the near future? We’re moving in the right direction, according to most of the panelists featured in POLITICO Pro’s “How Fast to Cures?” discussion on October 7, 2015 at the Newseum in Washington D.C.

“For the first time in decades, with the House bill of 21st Century Cures and with the Senate companion piece that they are working on, we’re seeing a revving up of our full ecosystem of discovery, development and delivery of medical progress that incorporates the patient community in ways that we’ve never seen,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO, Research!America.

Advocates should not expect the Senate version of the bill to be a mirror image of the House bill, according to Joel White, executive director, Health IT Now. “It will be a smaller package, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not an important package.” Diana Zuckerman, president, National Center for Health Research expressed concerns about how clinical experience will be used by the FDA when considering the safety and efficacy of new drugs and devices. Woolley noted that the provisions in the House bill expand FDA authority to use clinical experience but does not explicitly mandate it. Margaret Anderson, executive director, FasterCures and Woolley emphasized the need to increase resources for the FDA and NIH to implement provisions in the bill.